


let's talk about that.

by mydrunkjoey



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, sports AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 12:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5784727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydrunkjoey/pseuds/mydrunkjoey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I'm Rhett McLaughlin, former player of the LA Lakers.”</p><p>“And I'm Link Neal, former player of LA Galaxy.”</p><p>“And we just got married.”</p><p>“Let's talk about that.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	let's talk about that.

“I'm Rhett McLaughlin, former player of the LA Lakers.”

“And I'm Link Neal, former player of LA Galaxy.”

“And we just got married.”

“Let's talk about that.”

 

~

 

It's not often that you get celebrities (yeah, I'll go right out and say it) talking about their love life via Youtube. It's even less often that you get celebrities who marry other celebrities of the same gender to then talk about their love life via Youtube. And another layer down is that the chances of these celebrities being athletes (ex-athletes at this point) are close to zero.

To be fair, the chances are now one of seven billion. The one being us.

Link and I were athletes, I don't think I need to tell you that. We were on TV quite a bit and although I'm no Kobe Bryant and Link is no David Beckham, we've been on commercials, and we were definitely members of hugely popular sports teams. Though if I'm allowed to spout, the Lakers have Galaxy beat in terms of Los Angeles popularity, let's be real.

Sports aside, Link and I are best friends. He's also my husband, which although it's something I'm proud to talk about, there's a reason why we decided to hash everything out via Youtube.

Maybe it's clear, but liking someone of the same sex doesn't tend to be widely or graciously accepted in sports. In this case, Link might be luckier considering the recent trend of LGBTQA+ support some of the bigger soccer teams have been promoting. Basketball? Not even close.

We were never shunned by our teammates however, mainly because no one knew. We kept our relationship as quiet as possible, instagram photos to a minimum, and tweets about each other on a half a year basis. It was lonely I'll admit.

Being in the limelight meant that everything you did counted. Everything I wore, everything Link wore, every activity we decided to do together, mattered. Sometimes we were under fire from even being supportive of the community we secretly belonged in, and those days were the hardest.

Still, we both lived in LA, and busy schedules aside we at the very least, understood each other's position. We went to each other's games as much as we could, and celebrated Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and birthdays together when it was possible. (We spent most of our Valentines' apart.)

But this all happened in recent years, and what Link and I wanted to address (and eventually did address after some bad puns and nervous sweating) was how this all came to be. How Link became a central defender for LA Galaxy, and I, a flexible shooting guard for LA Lakers. How Link got into soccer and I into basketball. How Link and I met, and of course how Link and I fell in love.

I could be sappy and say that how Link and I met coincides with how we fell in love, but I'd be wrong. I don't think it's possible to fall in love when you're in the first grade.

 

~

 

“Link and I met when we were-- basically toddlers.”

“First grade Rhett. I don't think first graders are toddlers.”

“First grade. We were called into detention on the first day of school for writing profanity on our desks.”

“Not something I'm proud of, but at the same time glad it happened.”

“Are you getting romantic on me?”

“I'm just being myself, I'm not doing anything. Move on-- keep telling the story.”

“Alright, so we were called into detention and we were the only two there. I think we were given animals to colour?”

“Unicorns.”

“Unicorns I guess.”

“Maybe colouring a rainbow together was what sealed the deal between us.”

“At grade one?”

“Puppy love you know.”

“I doubt it, but sure, the fact is we coloured-- unicorns together and became friends.”

“And then Rhett proposed to me.”

“--Link, Link you missed a whole chunk of our life there. Thirty plus years of it to be exact.”

 

~

 

I had known pretty early on that our friendship was unconventional to say the least.

It was one thing to be best friends and see each other loads, but it was another thing to _want_ to see each other at every single moment possible. And it really was _every single moment possible_. For the most part, I was present for all the big moments in Link's life. A lot of these moments dwindled when we became professional athletes due to the situation I'd previously explained however, and although it wasn't necessarily love at first sight, there was still some kind of spark, some kind of immediate understanding that we'd be together one way or another, for a long, long time. (Of course, I hadn't expected it to be _this_ long.)

Everything went downhill in terms of internal torment, during middle school. Our interest in sports grew, I in basketball, Link in soccer, and then we were on the local teams. It was middle school when we learned about what a 'faggot' was and using 'gay' to mean something awful, something effeminate. (As if being effeminate was as bad of a crime as being gay. As if being gay was a crime at all.) It was middle school when I began to wonder what it'd be like to hold hands with boys, kiss boys-- date boys essentially. And it was middle school when Link came out to me before I had even reached any conclusion with my own sexuality.

 

~

 

“I was 15. I remember this, I remember saying it out loud to the mirror-- well I was whispering because back in the day, you'd never want anyone to hear this.”

“Even now there're probably kids who can't say it out loud.”

“So I said it and then of course I panicked. Got really antsy, probably walked around in a circle for a good half an hour before I called you.”

“Mhm.”

“And I told you I was coming over--”

“--Yeah, you didn't ask, I remember.”

“I was too worked up to be polite. But I went over and we went into your room and you were like-- sitting there with your boxer shorts and spinning a basketball or something. Something really stereotypical of a jock.”

“I was wearing my bright green boxer shorts.”

“And--”

“--And you were wearing the white t-shirt that you eventually wore the night we had sex for the first time.”

“Rhett--”

“I remember that.”

 

~

 

It took me five months to accept Link. It would've taken longer if I hadn't seen Link lose himself bit by bit. There were days when he'd show up to Science class, the one class we had together that year, with the same shirt he wore the last four days, and he'd have eyebags on his eyebags. And the stupid thing was that nobody even knew Link came out to me. Nobody knew Link was gay and nobody ever suspected he was, and yet I was so terrified that people would find out and would assume the same of me that I avoided him.

To this day, Link doesn't let me live this down.

But finally, finally I went over to Link's place to apologize. And Link probably wouldn't have forgiven me if I hadn't come out to him right then and there too. So imagine this, imagine me, tall and skinny and young with my horrible ripped jeans and a really big denim shirt, crying into Link, who was still very small at the time, as he held me in a very secluded part of his room. A little corner by his closet. We didn't want Sue, Link's mom, to hear us and come up, so we muffled our crying into each other's shirts. It's cute when I describe it like this, but honestly, it was just awful. There was snot everywhere and I'm an ugly crier.

Either way, Link forgave me and I accepted Link, and middle school concluded peacefully.

 

~

 

“So high school was exciting for many reasons.”

“Link and I had sex for the first time.”

“Rhett--”

“And Link said that I was 'amazing'.”

“I was young and naive, what can I say? Sex aside, we also started our professional sports' careers towards the end. Which I think is an important thing for us to discuss.”

“Yeah. I was at the same game that one of the scouts was. I gave you a massage in the car because you were so on edge, and not in a good way.”

“I was so nervous.”

“But you were great.”

“So were your massages.”

 

~

 

Link and I were one of the few successful athletes that graduated from our school. And yeah, Link got bought by Galaxy before I was bought by the Lakers. Exciting-- but still terrifying.

The night before Link was about to have his first meeting with the coach and the press, Link was so incredibly jittery. We spent 2 hours talking and talking, about what it meant to be gay in the sports world, about our relationship, about what he should wear, about what he should say, about whether he wanted to come out to the public or not. And to this day, I can't tell if we made the right decision to zip up, but we went with it and we lived it.

And I don't know if this needs any clarification, but being in the closet is already difficult enough. Being unable to proudly declare that you have a boyfriend and that you love him more than anything-- because yeah, by then it was already love-- is painfully tough. But then there's this added layer of being unable to even support people who can be proud, being unable to donate to the charities that benefit the community you belong in, and that's frustrating. Heartbreaking really.

It did get better however, as time went on. Some of our teammates would show a little bit of openmindedness, some had uncles who were gay or friends who were lesbians. One of Link's teammates had a childhood friend who just transitioned last summer. All in all, it wasn't awful the entire time.

One thing's for sure, our relationship, even through the lack of communication, got stronger.

 

~

 

“Do you remember when I snuck you out of one of your first games to celebrate your winning 3-pointer?”

“Yeah we went to uh-- what's that place called--”

“--I don't remember but they had the funniest names for dishes.”

“Eggy Egg Supreme.”

“Spicy Sassy Sausage Slivers.”

“The 'Slivers' part really throws me off.”

“All the titles threw me off. But we had to sit in the corner because I was so happy for you and I was 100% sure that I'd kiss you in public.”

“And you did.”

“I did, I kissed Rhett McLaughlin in public.”

“We also kissed in the car later.”

“But that wasn't really in public, I actually got to kiss you in a restaurant with people around.”

“Except nobody saw.”

“Yeah but somebody could've!”

“Well now, after this airs, you can kiss me wherever we go.”

“You bet I will.”

 

~

 

Late into high school, I was already sure that I loved Link. More than that, I knew I loved him more than anyone else. More than my own family, which sounds sort of awful considering the fact my family didn't bat a lash when I came out to them two years ago. (Or maybe acceptance is expected.)

But I think that there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. I hope I'm not being excruciatingly sappy, but loving Link is easy. Loving him is caring for him and listening to him, making him dinner from time to time, giving him gifts and generally supporting him. But being in love with Link, which happened a little later on in our mid-twenties, takes a lot of effort.

Being in love with Link means missing him whenever we're apart, thinking about him when I'm eating something delicious and wondering whether or not he'd like it, yearning for him on the really bad nights. It's like drowning. And if it isn't for the fact that Link's just as in love with me as I am in him, it would be torturous. It's madness shared by two-- which in turn ends up being quite beautiful.

When I was 27, I finally fell _in_ love. I don't know the exact moment because it's not that clear, it's just a lot of memories of Link laughing and Link crying and Link being-- Link, but I knew I was in love somewhere on my way to turning 28.

Link and I had always wanted to have a family, and I realized at almost-28, that I could very well give him that. Or at least I could provide him one part of it-- we're still working on the other part. I realized it and internalized it for a good 10 extra years because we were at the peak of our careers, and we were bluntly told that being out would ruin our chances at stardom. Which when I think back on it, shouldn't have been as important. And yet it was.

So when we decided to retire, arms already sore and legs already aching, we-- I say we but I made the decision, started up the engine we had minimized for ten years. And it all happened.

 

~

 

“So September 2nd, 2015. This is probably the biggest part. The part most of these watchers were waiting to hear about.”

“I mean it's not much of a story. It's quite obvious. They've probably read the articles already, they've probably seen some of the photos.”

“Yeah it's pretty self-explanatory.”

“I propose to Link.”

“His proposal was built around someone else's work. Plagiarized proposal.”

“I did the boombox thing. I stood out of Link's place and I got the boombox from my dad, and I blasted Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes' in the middle of the night.”

“Everything about it was plagiarized-- even the song.”

“And when Link got out to the window, some of my mates-- mates who knew about our relationship-- were holding up signs, all dressed like John Cusack.”

“Rhett was the only one dressed in a tux, which I guess is different.”

“And the signs said stuff like, 'will you marry this guy?' or 'Rhett wants to wed you' and similar stuff. Very casual proposals.”

“It was ridiculous but I mean, very Rhett.”

“Link said yes so 'very Rhett' must mean 'very perfect'.”

“If your name is synonymous to perfect, a perfect person would only propose to someone equally as perfect-- if not, _more_ perfect.”

“You know what Link, you _are_ perfect.”

“Rhett, I'm going to kiss you right after this is finished recording.”

 

~

 

Just to let you know, Link always keeps his promises.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write a Rhink fic specifically with a sports context for awhile because
> 
>  **1.** I like football/soccer.  
>  **2.** I like listening to them talk about their sports endeavours.  
>  **3.** I like reading about LGBTQA+ support in sports.
> 
> So this is what came about! It's my first Rhink fic, and this writing style is quite unlike my other stuff-- I never write in first person and with so much narration-- but I thought I'd try it out. Either way, this was in the works for a good half a year before I finally wrote the last 70% in one sitting.


End file.
